Health Risk Assessment: Total Mercury in Canned Tuna and in Yellowfin and Frigate Tuna Caught from Leyte Gulf and Philippine Sea

The total mercury (tHg) concentrations in commercially available canned tuna and in yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores) and frigate tuna (Auxis thazard) caught from the waters of Eastern Visayas, Philippines were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. The average total mercury concentrations measured from nine frigate tuna, three yellowfin tuna, and four canned tuna were 0.024 ug/g, 0.002 ug/g, and 0.07 ug/g, respectively. Values of estimated daily intake for locally caught tuna for different age groups and sex were calculated. Calculated daily dose for all locally caught tuna in the study were well below the allowed concentration of mercury in fish consumed per day regardless of age and sex, and thus may not pose a health risk to consumers. The same calculations were done for canned tuna with results further explained in the paper.